Spain
by Violet-The-Bat
Summary: Maria is sent to school in Spain. What happened over there all that time?
1. Chapter 1

I flinched a little when _Papa_ towered over me with a raised voice and his hooked hand pointing off into the distance while telling me to go home and wait for him. He said he was going to send me off to some boarding school in I drowned in my tears, I ran off with my arms welding Manolo's destroyed guitar into my chest.

When I opened the front door, I saw Mama across the hall, reading a book in her chair.

She saw my leaking eyes, and the broken instrument.

"Maria? What happened? Did those boys hurt you while you were playing?"

"No, Mama."

She put her book down on its face and walked towards me; I sniffled even harder when she knelt down in front of me and put one hand on my shoulder with the other on my cheek.

"Papa said he's going to send me away!"

"What do you mean, send you away?"

"I got in trouble again."

"Ay, Maria, what did you do this time?"

"I was playing soldiers with Joaquin and Manolo; and then when I ran by this corral, I saw the cutest baby pig. And then I realized he and all the other animals in there were going to be turned into bacon. So I set them free, and it caused a ton of chaos in the town square."

"Maria, I know you love animals, but that wasn't the right thing to do."

"Now, Papa doesn't love me anymore and said he's sending me to a school in Spain."

She looked worried. I didn't want my baby being around a bunch of total strangers.

"Honey, go on up to your room."

As I lay curled up on my bed with my plush puppy, I stared at the wall across from me. I can't believe I won't see San Angel until I graduated from school.

I decided to play with a couple of my toys while I waited. Then, the front door slammed with the force only my papa could handle.

Worrying that I wasn't supposed be playing, I threw my toys under the bed, and put my ear to the door.

"Rachel! Our Maria has gone too far!"

"I know; she told me what happened when she got here."

"She needs to be respectful."

"She's only seven!"

"I don't care! She needs to start learning how to be lady while she's young. Just think about it; if we don't do something, by the time she's eighteen, she'll be running with the animals like she was raised by them!"

I knew then that there was no choice, no chance in bribing him, or convincing. Almost instantly, I heard one of them coming up the stairs. Once I heard the grumbling, I knew it was Papa.

I ran and crawled under the bed. I got so mad when I heard him knock.

"Go away!"

"Maria, open that door! Or I'll-"

"You'll what?! Send me away? That's already on your agenda!"

Quietly, he opened the door and walked in. He knew my favorite spot to hide was under the bed.

"Mi hija, please come out from under there; my back hurts."

My instinct kicked in, and I obeyed in crawling back out, and massaged his back when he sat down on my bed.

"I'll certainly miss this while your away."

"So don't get rid of me."

"I'm not getting rid of you. I'm sending you to a school where you'll learn how to be respectful."

I stopped rubbing his back and crashed my face into my pillow.

"I love you."

I turned towards him again and my tears were raining again.

"I love you too, Papa."

He kissed me on the forehead.

Our tender moment broke when my heart did.

"Well, your train leaves for Spain tonight. Mama will come up here in a few minutes with a snack and help you with your luggage."

As he left, I sat on the edge of my bed and stared sadly at the ground.

Then, I looked out my window.

"Goodbye Joaquin. Goodbye San Angel...and goodbye Manolo.

PART 1 END


	2. Chapter 2

After Mama helped me pack, she dolled me up in a white dress that was draped in black stripes; I looked like a ref for Ninos Soccer. Then, she gave me a matching bonnet to go with it.

Over and over again, I begged to stay, but Papa's mind was made up. He didn't enjoy the thought of sending me away, he was trying to stay firm.

I said bye to Mama at the front door. She said she couldn't bring herself to say goodbye to me at the train station. We hugged, and she gave me a baggie of cookies and a thermos with milk fresh from the cattle on my_ abuelo's _farm.

"They don't serve very good food on these transportation services." she sniffed.

I gently placed the cookies and thermos in my carry on bag.

"Before I leave, can I do a couple of things?"

"Maria, you're going to school, not dying."

"I know; I just wanted to bring one of my toys, and replace Manolo's guitar with my allowance I saved."

I saved so many pesos that I earned to buy myself a fencing sword and, pay for my own tuition for a martial arts class. I had been wanting to try that for a while, but there were so many to choose from: muay thai, kung fu, wing chun, karate and even jujitsu or judo.

Mama and Papa gave each other those looks that parents have when they're both trying to make sure both were comfortable with the decision they were about to say out loud.

When they did that, I used to think that when two people married, they magically developed psychic abilities to read each other's thoughts. But I had that loco idea when I was a kid.

I am now a whopping seven years old, and no longer a child.

They said it was alright.

There were still two hours until my train left. Papa and I walked to a store that sold used instruments. I found a guitar that had obviously well taken care of from its first parent. I got so excited when the price tag was something I could afford without Papa's help.

He helped me take it off the shelf. Even though there weren't any scratch marks or broken strings, the guitar itself was so plain. But all the others were too expensive for my allowance. I started walking towards the counter to pay, but then, I was given a sign that the guitar wasn't ready to be gift wrapped.

Literally, I saw a sign in the back that said whatever was picked out could be personalized.

While Papa was distracted by a an old friend he ran into, I walked to the back and found the tables that had everything needable for personalizing a gift. One table had paint and stickers, and the second table had knives and needles that people used in carving inscriptions.

It was time I got my artist on. I painted stars, stripes, hearts and skulls all over it, and then wrote in a cursive type of printing, _'Always play from the heart. Love, Maria.' _on it. The paint dried pretty quick, and I put it on the counter.

"Will you please gift wrap this?"

"Would you want formal or birthday party style?"

"Birthday party, please."

I suddenly realized my money was low, and I couldn't afford the wrapping. Papa noticed how worried I was, and placed a few extra coins on the counter.

"Thanks, Papa."

The guitar was wrapped in colorful paper and put in a box that was designed to easily open without having to untie the bow.

Manolo and Joaquin had were already waiting at the train station for me. I gave Papa a kiss on the cheek, and he went home after that. I heard Joaquin was going to join Papa's soldiers. It obviously wasn't a rumor when I saw him wearing the light violet uniform. He looked like a little Mexican G.I Joe.

I hugged Joaquin first.

"We're gonna miss you." He said.

Then I hugged Manolo. He didn't say anything.

"Don't stop playing." I told him with a sad smile.

I looked at Joaquin.

"And you don't stop fighting for what's right." I said.

I was getting ready to give Manolo his gift, but then he surprised me with one.

"This is for you. You might wanna open it now."

Joaquin looked as if he felt like an idiot.

"Wait, we were supposed to bring gifts?!"

Manolo and I laughed at his adorable innocence.

I opened the box, and gasped at a baby pig in there; wiggling on his back like a puppy and shaking his googled eyes around. When he saw me, he leaned on the edge of the box like a puppy and stared up at me like he wanted to be picked up like a baby.

"His name is Chuy." Manolo said.

"Aww! I remember you." I told Chuy while holding him like a teddy bear.

"I'm sorry I forgot to bring you a gift, Maria." said Joaquin.

I ignored him and asked if he'd hold Chuy for a second. I then pulled out the gift box for Manolo and apologized for smashing his first guitar.

He didn't have time to answer when the train whistle called for me to board. All three of us felt like somebody had just punched us in the stomachs; we didn't wanna be separated.

I quickly snatched Chuy from Joaquin and ran to train.

Then, a hiccup from the wind blew my bonnet off my head. I didn't have any time to try to catch it.

I started sniffling as the train started moving. It was starting to speed up when I heard someone.

"_MARIA!"_

I looked out the window and smiled. Manolo was holding his new guitar, and running next the train.

"When you come back, I will play for you!"

Joaquin appeared next to him and was holding my bonnet.

"And I will fight for you!" he called.

They made me feel much more calm about leaving. I smiled and sighed while I sat back down in my seat. I had some good friends.

The train eventually rocketed across the tracks like a bus with fireworks attached to the back. Chuy fell asleep next to my lap. I stared out the window and watched the world dash past me. It was like I was traveling through time or racing the world while the mini cactuses and boulders looked like little dim blurs, and the hills lagged behind. They reminded me of the Tortoise and the Hare. Half sped, half remained slow.

PART TWO ENDING


	3. Chapter 3

It was the next day when I woke up; only an hour was left between me and Spain. It didn't look like there were any attendants working yet.

But I didn't need the terrible train cuisine Mama talked about; I still had her homemade cookies in my bag, and the thermos filled with milk was put in the refrigerator near the back of the car, so it'd stay milk and not end up like cottage cheese by the time the heat from daytime came.

I told Chuy to stay, and watch my bag. The nine other travelers on the car stared at me as I got up to fetch my thermos. (especially some other seven year old boys.) It was starting to scare me, so I decided to scare them.

"What're you staring at?!"

My raised voice made them return their eyes ahead, or back to the window they were staring at before.

I felt a little more protected when Chuy came running from the seat, and bleated while he stood in front of me like a guard dog. They jumped when he made that unnatural sound. Most pigs oink; Chuy bleated like a goat.

He followed me to the refrigerator and nuzzled against my ankle. I guess he wanted something to eat; so I left some money in the jar they left there and bought him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a plastic bottle of strawberry milk.

We sat back down, and he put his head on my knee like the puppy he was.

"Thanks, Chuy." I said while petting his head.

I guess it would be a waste of time to worry while I had Chuy. He was cute and loyal.

It wasn't hard to see he wanted to be my pet; when I first saw him in the corral, I called him cute, and his eyes turned into hearts.

By 3:45, the train stopped, and here we were. I picked up my luggage and saw waited outside the station. Papa told me somebody from the school would pick me up.

Chuy stayed in defense mode and bleated at everyone who walked by us. Maybe he thought everyone there had it in for me. 15 minutes died, and this van pulled up. A strict dressed woman came out and held up a sign with my name on it.

Quickly, I took my luggage and waved as I came up to her.

"May I help you, young lady?"

"My name is Maria Posada."

"Oh, good! We didn't have to wait too long for each other. Anyway, join me on the van, and you'll be served a late lunch at the cafeteria. She sat next to me when Chuy and I sat down again. I was tired of traveling! Even though I wasn't walking, I just wanted to get inside a building.

"My name is Elizabeth Rey." She put her hand out so I could shake it.

"Hi."

Chuy once again popped up from under the seat and growled at her this time.

"Bad boy, Chuy!" He sadly crawled back under.

"Sorry about my pig. When we get to school, I'll keep him behaving."

Hopefully Chuy'd learn that everyone he doesn't know is not going to hurt me. Elizabeth looked a little uncomfortable; maybe she was about to say ladies don't own pigs. But I didn't want a dog, or a cat, or a majestic bird.

"He's very cute, dear; but I don't Ms. Beal will be okay with you keeping him.

"Is Ms. Beal the principal?"

"Yes. But he's only a baby, and so if you ask her, she might give you a rare permission."

She pulled out a fan and held it in front of her face from the ridge of her nose and down to her chin.

"Why do you have a fan?"

"It's proper for a lady to cover her face and walk with royal posture."

I guess that they'd be teaching me a lot of things about being a proper lady. A fan? Why is that proper? What else? Eating with a fork the size of a toothpick?

The van slugged down. The school looked like a mansion.

"Come dear." She said and handed me a fan.

I left it on the seat for a minute to pick up my back pack, and tried to hurry and follow her, but I heard something that sounded like a little bell on the floor. I looked under the seat, and saw a collar. Maybe somebody else smuggled a pet. The collar was black leather and had a tag in the shape of a heart.

Guess what the tag said.

Chuy! Manolo probably put it in my bag when I didn't notice. Chuy saw it was for him and sat still while put it on. It looked cute!

Then I remembered Elizabeth was already off the van and waiting for me. I took the fan and put it in front of my face and tried walking like I was a princess.

She glared down at Chuy when he oinked.

END OF PART 3


End file.
